Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Dubai had teamed up with Salesforce, the global leader in CRM (customer relationship management), to train students in the next generation of in-demand skills and prepare them for work in the Salesforce economy. The partnership represents Salesforce’s first alignment in the region and will help realize the forecast to deliver over 9 million jobs across the company’s ecosystem by 2026.
The agreement will see RIT Dubai students gain free access to training through Salesforce’s online platform, Trailhead (trailhead.com). Providing structured training and development paths for Salesforce roles, the initiative supports career progression across a range of disciplines, from sales and marketing to technology and design. The syllabus will be delivered in collaboration with the company’s partner ecosystem, giving students the opportunity to learn first-hand and helping them to secure work placements upon graduation.
The collaboration comes following an earlier report published by global market intelligence provider, International Data Corporation (IDC), which revealed that Salesforce and its ecosystem of partners will create 9.3 million new jobs and $1.6 trillion in new business revenues worldwide by 2026. The IDC study also found that 2026 ecosystem revenues are forecast to be 3.5 times those in 2020.
“Salesforce has been growing globally at more than 20% for many years. The Middle East is one of the fastest growing regions”, explained Thierry Nicault, Area Vice President for Salesforce for Middle East North Africa. “The digital skill gap in the market is evident everywhere in the world, so we are very proud and happy to see high quality initiatives come up from such important education organizations like RIT Dubai.
“They are a perfect partner for us in upskilling students and graduates to deliver on the IDC jobs forecast. We also want to give back to the region and this collaboration will offer excellent opportunities for students at the university to have a stronger chance of placement when they graduate and also to increase the digitalisation in the ecosystem.”
Commenting about the new partnership on behalf of RIT Dubai, University president, Dr. Yousef Al Assaf, said, “Part of our plan to prepare our graduates for the job market is to support them to gain industry endorsed certification and training in addition to their academic degrees. Salesforce is a well reputed organization that we have been closely working with. We look forward to developing and upskilling the talents of our students even further, by providing them with opportunities to join the workforce equipped with industry knowledge and expertise.”
As the first university partner in the region, RIT Dubai joins an international network of Salesforce affiliated institutions. The first initiative in the collaboration is a 12-week Salesforce program delivered to computing security, computing, and business students, followed by a Career Fair in March 2022, which will be exclusive to Salesforce partners. The ultimate aim is to establish RIT Dubai as the Salesforce preferred university in the region.
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